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Top 50 Minnesota Timberwolves

Entering the National Basketball Association as an expansion team in 1989, the Minnesota Timberwolves have not yet won a championship, though the acquisition of future Hall of Famer, Kevin Garnett put the T-Wolves in the national spotlight and made them a force in the Western Conference.


With Garnett, Minnesota would become a playoff contender, however, would lose in the First Round seven times in a row. In their eighth playoff attempt, the 2003-04 season, they would break through to the Western Conference Finals but would fall to the Los Angeles Lakers.

They have only been to the playoffs twice since, that coming in 2017-18 and 2021/22.

This list is up to the end of the 2022/23 season.

Note: Basketball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
This might be one of the easiest top choice that we ever had to decide on.  
Karl-Anthony Towns arrived in Minnesota as the first overall pick of the 2015 Draft and he did exactly what you want in his rookie season by winning the Rookie of the Year award and being a fringe All-Star candidate.  What you expect after is for steady improvement and again, this is exactly what the T-Wolves have received thus far.
The main go-to player for the Minnesota Timberwolves for years, Kevin Love may not have been able to take his team to the playoffs but he was thought to be one of the best Power Forwards in the game.  Before he would become the “third option” and an NBA Champion in Cleveland, Love would become a two-time Second Team All-NBA Selection and a three-time All-Star.  Love did not exactly leave Minnesota on the best of…
The son of former ABA player, Walt Szczerbiak, Wally Szczerbiak was sixth overall by the T-Wolves after being named the MAC Player of the Year.  The former University of Miami Redhawk would make First Team All-Rookie honors and in his third year, he would have his best ever campaign in the National Basketball Association.  That year, Szczerbiak would make the All-Star Team.  As a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Szczerbiak would finish in the top…
An All-Star twice as a Cleveland Cavalier, Terrell Brandon had a lot left to offer when he arrived in Minnesota. The Point Guard was equal mentor as he was a player and would actually see the best Assists numbers of his career. This was also true with his Steals statistics, as he would twice finish in the top ten in Steals per Game.Brandon, who was with the T-Wolves for three and a half seasons never…
No matter the efficiency of Ricky Rubio, one thing can always be stated about Spanish Point Guard, Ricky Rubio; he is always exciting to watch!
From the West African nation of Senegal, the large Center, Gorgui Dieng played in the United States in High School and in College at the University of Louisville.  Dieng would be a late first rounder for the Timberwolves and has provento be a solid member of the NBA.  As a very young man, we are anxious to see what else he may have within him on the hardwood.
In the lengthy 14-year NBA career of Power Forward, Tom Gugliotta, the peak period was easily the three and half seasons he was with Minnesota.  “Googs” would reward the Timberwolves fans with two consecutive 20 Point per Game seasons and was an All-Star in 1997.
The well travelled (eight teams in fifteen years) Sam Cassell plied his trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for just two seasons, one of which resulted in his only All Star Game appearance.  In that season, the Point Guard would average 19.8 Points per Game and a 22.8 PER, both of which were career highs when he was with one team during an NBA campaign.  He would also be named to a post season All-NBA team,…
A mega-star at Duke and a member of the 1992 United States Dream Team, Christian Laettner did not have the same career he had in the professional ranks as he did in the college ones, but the third overall draft pick in 1992 still made a mark in Minnesota.  Laettner’s numbers were at his best in Minnesota where he averaged a healthy 17.2 Points per Game Average.
From the small Basketball mad nation of Montenegro, Nikola Pekovic took his sweet time making his way to the NBA as he was busy dominating the Euro League.  Pekovic would finish third in Most Improved Voting in the 2011/12 season and followed that up with two seasons averaging over 15 Points and 8 Rebounds per Game.  Pekovic would suffer ankle issues in the 2014/15 season that limited his playing time to 31 Games and even…
Coming out of UCLA, Point Guard, Pooh Richardson (yes, he was named after Winnie the Pooh), never missed a game in his three seasons with the Timberwolves.  The former Pac-10 Freshman of the Year would average 15 Points per Game in Minnesota, which was by far the best offensive output of his career…though he never did learn how to shoot free throws!
A member of the Minnesota Timberwolves midway through his National Basketball Association career, Anthony Peeler, spent the bulk of his NBA tenure with the Wolves.  Peeler managed a long NBA career but it was with Minnesota where he had his longest run.
Statistically speaking Joe Smith belongs on this list. The versatile forward averaged 10.3 Points per Game over 247 NBA contests with slightly above average advanced metrics. He would essentially become an NBA journeyman playing for 12 teams, but it was with Minnesota where he was most famous, and dare we say most infamous.
Andrew Wiggins is one of the toughest players to rank on any of our Top-50 lists, as his five years and change saw high points, but low advanced metrics.
Over the sixteen years that Tyrone Corbin spent in the NBA, there is no question that the best run of his career was in Minnesota.  Joining the T-Wolves when they were an expansion team, he was not winning often but he enjoyed the best individual seasons on his career putting up career highs in Points per Game with 18.0 and Rebounds with 7.4.
Highly regarded going into both the University of Georgia and the NBA as the #1 Pick in 2020, Anthony Edwards had an excellent rookie season, earning All-Rookie accolades, and averaging 19.3 Points per Game.  This was the scoring touch they expected from Edwards as a rookie, but there were plenty of mistakes, as displayed by his advanced metrics, namely his sub-15.0 PER.  This was common for rookies, and Edwards progressed nicely in his sophomore campaign, breaking…
This entry is exceptionally tricky as Jimmy Butler only played 69 Games for the Timberwolves, and he forced a trade to get out.  That being said, the Shooting Guard put forth high numbers with a 22.0 Point per Game Average and a 23.5 PER, which are excellent statistics for his tenure there.
Without a doubt, the three seasons that Tony Campbell spent with the Minnesota Timberwolves were by far the most productive of his NBA career.  Joining the expansion Timberwolves from the loaded Los Angeles Lakers, Campbell became a starter and rattled off two consecutive seasons of 20 Points per Game, more than triple what he had before.  Following his run in Minnesota, he would be back on the bench, but he was one of the few…